ICT in History class

2^nd world war ( Documentary movie), 22nd  September,2016

History is a subject which is full of book and talk that led to monotony in teaching and learning process. It is least liked by our students and they many times land up saying “it’s a boring subject” and if one visits the history class you would find most students half sleep. Therefore, with the prior permission of the grade eight History teacher, I decided to take one of the History class in 8^th grade. The topic “world war II” was presented to students by using a movie in documentary version on world war II.The documentary consists of  six parts , however I used only the part I , other remaining parts will  also be presented to the students in other sessions.

I took all the students to the school IT lab and made them to sit in semi-circle facing the OHP screen. Students were instructed to make notes as they watch the movie which they will be presenting to the whole class in next session as a group.

The movie was played for two times in the Laptop and presented to them using OHP. They made notes individually as they watched the movie. At the end of the lesson I asked students about the days History lesson, their response was very positive where they shared that “why can’t we have lesson in movie form?” we can understand better when we can see, analyze and understand by making meaning rather than just reading the book and listen to the teachers passively. I am fortunate that I teach in an urban school which has the basic ICT facilities like OHP, IT lab and limited network package that supports in integrating ICT in our classroom teaching. However, most rural schools in our country don’t have the ICT facilities yet let’s make it possible to integrate ICT in our classroom teaching and learning as the 21^st century learners are IT savvy. The world today demands the usage of updated information which is easily available in webpages in internet. Let us make the students learn rather than the mere teaching of information from the book which is supposed to be a guide to help teachers with the basic information. Integration of ICT usage in our classroom teaching can reduce the burden for teachers and offers wide range of learning tools for the students that will boost their knowledge in the content area of study.

Note : The movie file was big therefore  could not upload it. Sorry.

Teaching Numerals through Rhyme( 20th September,2016)

Teaching Numerals through Rhyme 

Learning turn out to be meaningful and exciting when offered through several modes. Therefore, I used ICT to enhance their knowledge on Counting Forward and Backward in Mathematics for Preprimary students. Counting on and counting backward are the vital skills to help young learners to set foundation for addition and subtraction later. Accordingly, I selected a rhyme on counting on and counting back which was used during the closure of the lesson that helped the learners revise the lesson easily by singing the rhyme.  Young children enjoy rhymes where learning becomes amusing that aid to promote active learning.

The rhyme was played in laptop and subsequently it was presented to the students in their classroom through the OHP. I could literally see and feel the excitement that most children exhibited as I said that we will sing a rhyme on counting numbers. The learning was enjoyable and fun when the lesson was presented through integration of ICT in our classroom.

At the end of the lesson the learners exhibited the desire and keenness for learning the next lesson. Effective learning happens when the learners are keen to learn which activate their brain for interactive and meaningful learning.

Last but not the least, I would like to urge every teacher to productively incorporate ICT application into teaching learning process to reap its immense benefits. It can truly boost the zeal for learning of the 21st century ICT savvy learners.  Integration of ICT in classroom teaching and learning can reduce the burden on teachers and motivate students to learn any discipline with lot of pleasure as well as help achieve the intended goal of education system at large.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IJBV6vdNnc,Ten In The Bed Nursery Rhyme

 

Oh My Genius - Nursery Rhymes And Kids Songs  

Using ICT in Life skill lesson( taught on 19th September,2016)

Life skill class using ICT ( taught on 19^th September,2016)

Learning can become less stressful when imparted through such approaches which are more acceptable to the students. The young learners can acquire information efficiently when taught through filmic assistance.

Therefore, I selected an audiovisual to teach values during life skill lesson. The last period of every Monday is being allocated for life skill class or value education class in my school. So I decided to teach values of being ‘responsible’ by using a story presented in audiovisual for my third grade students. It is a human tendency that we do not prudently protect and diligently use any asset or property for which legal rights are not attached to despite using them and deriving many befits during normal course of our lives.

Therefore, I wanted to help my students to instill this very values right from young age as it is one of the most important values for individuals. Subsequently, the students were taken to the school IT lab; made the appropriate sitting arrangement and briefed them on the lesson.

It was unbelievable, as the eyes caught hold of the curiosity and excitement that the students wore on their faces; waiting for the story to be played. It was their first visit to the IT lab and they always bore a belief that it is actually meant for senior students during IT classes only. Next, the video clip on “How to love your school” was played in the laptop which was presented through OHP.  The microphones were used for a better audibility. The class was so silent as they were interested to watch the movie and listen to the story. It was followed by an interaction amongst students for about 10 minutes to share ( with the person sitting to his/ her left and then to the one on the right side) which they have learnt from the story.

Then, few students were made to share their understanding to the whole class. It was surprising to hear the points from such young learners that they grasped lots of things from the story which otherwise would have been a challenge to get their attention to listen to the story if told by the teacher in the classroom. They were able to share information like we can be responsible by act of putting off the lights when not in use, closing water tapes after use, taking care of books and classroom furniture and keeping the surrounding clean so on and so forth.

Therefore, to enhance effective teaching and learning the students must be taken to different environments and present the lessons using various methods making the leaning easy, fun and enjoyable. Thus, preparing the students to develop positive attitudes towards learning.

Understanding of the lesson was better, when ICT was integrated in the lessons. The likely challenges would be the availability of internet facilities in schools and selecting the appropriate materials to be used as per the students’ interest and grade level. However, if the lesson is planned with determination, use of ICT can be made available to our passionate 21st century learners to learn with interest irrespective of subjects. Finally, use of ICT in classroom teaching and learning has more merits than demerits thus it warrants integration of ICT into teaching learning for enjoyable classes that are taken as fun yet very effective approaches/ method.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3GDwwajkFg  

 

Teaching Circumference of a circle by Integrating ICT, for 7th grade students

Circumference of a circle 

Teaching the concept of circumference of a circle in mathematic has always been a challenge to me. So, I took advantage of the ICT, where various lessons on circumference of a circle is presented by different mathematics teachers for different grades in many forms like Video, images, Pdf. Etc. I browsed in the internet and selected the most relevant video lesson for my 7^th grade students. The video was used during the lesson development phase for the content delivery.  Students were taken to the school IT lab. Then they were made to sit in their respective groups facing the chalk board. The lesson was then presented to them through OHP in the IT lab. Students watched the video lesson for two times; during the first round they watched and observed the demonstration and listened to the explanations.

Subsequently, they made note on circumference of a circle as enunciated below:The Circumference, C, is the perimeter of a circle or distance around a circle.Circumference of a Circle = 2 πr,  where the value of  π  = 3.14, r is the radius of a circle.

Circumference of a Circle, C = π × d, where the value of π = 3.14, d is the diameter of a circle.

Next, students were asked to have discussion and share their understanding among themselves in their own table team through RoundRobin, one of the Kagan’s Active Learning strategy. As the students’ shared their understanding most of them exhibited that effective learning has taken place as they were relating to the objects they see in circular shapes in our everyday life. Students were then made to solve some questions from their text book. When enquired about the day’s lesson, all the students shared that they enjoyed learning as fun, more over it was like watching their favorite movie. Students also shared learning is easy when we use ICT facilities.

The modern students especially in the urban do enjoy a better access to ICT facilities in various forms which helps them to use in their academic learning.

Therefore, I am confident to say that meaningful learning on circumference of a circle was enjoyable and my teaching was made easy by using ICT. So, I am really excited to teach many more lessons in different grades for various subjects through ICT integration.

Lastly, to share one of the primary challenges encountered during the lesson was the large number of students; difficult to manage 50 students in the IT lab. However, despite dearth of facilities and remoteness of the places of schools, every teacher must strive to make use of the ICT facilities and integrate its applications in teaching learning process. This shall definitely break the monotony of traditional teaching style into more effective, meaningful, active and creative teaching learning experience. 

Reflection on Integrating ICT in Our Classroom

This huge world could become a global village wherein any kind of information is accessible with ease and economy when incredible advantages of information and communication technology(ICT) is leveraged upon. This global community is rapidly undergoing an unprecedented and phenomenon virtual world. The ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is a general term that encapsulates any communication tool or application comprising of radio, television, cellular phones, computer or any ICT leveraged gadgets, network and satellite systems and the several facilities such as videoconferencing and distance learning.

The application of ICT is exponentially pervading into our lives and becoming predominant precursor specially in education sector and its benefits are unfolding day by the day. When applications of the ICT are being capitalized with aids of various gadgets, quite rapidly physical or printed books are being transformed into digital teaching and learning materials or becoming more virtual by the day. I have had a very special opportunity to learn about the usage of ICT in academic pursuit from my tutor besides many other spheres.

Integration of ICT into our classroom teaching learning processes, procedures and scope can undergo a dramatic improvement by transforming monotonous traditional teacher oriented teaching into more of very interactive students oriented teaching learning scenario besides many other benefits underpinning a new paradigm.  

The ICT integration will help the teachers to be more creative in modifying their own material. ICT can also be used to enhance learning process and help students drive on higher level perceptions rather than fewer meaningful tasks. The introduction of ICT integration into learning environments can led to effective learning. The interest of the 21st century learners displays that some essential rethinking of the education progression could be required to meaningfully integrate ICT in our academic learning. The ICT is here to remain indefinitely and its immense benefits shall unequivocally create new prospective in pursuance of academic excellence.

The module on ICT has absolutely brought about a major paradigm shift in my attitude as well as aptitude towards wonders and applications of the ICT and with all the appreciations on its application I shall be incorporating into teaching learning process befitting the needs of the 21^st century ICT savvy learners.